UVic Law Students Sole Canadian Presenters at UN Session

Third-year University of Victoria law students Jennifer Bond and Laurel Sherret are happily becoming familiar with the United Nations district of New York City, thanks to their recent work with the International Women’s Rights Project (IWRP). This summer the pair, along with IWRP co-director Marilou McPhedran, briefed Canadian UN ambassador Allan Rock, at his request, on a foreign policy paper the students authored. Bond and Sherret have now been invited back to New York to be the only Canadian presenters at the UN, Oct. 22 to 29, during a week of high level discussions on women, peace and security issues. Bond and Sherret’s paper urges the UN to apply its principles involving women and security when implementing the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine (R2P), a key Canadian foreign policy initiative the UN recently adopted. McPhedran, Bond, and Sherret will also act as international observers during the week long event.
“R2P recognizes that every country has the primary responsibility to look after its own citizens in times of crisis, but in the event that they can’t, states that it’s the responsibility of the international community to step in,” says Bond. “With R2P there would be a stronger response to situations such as those that occurred in Rwanda and Darfur.”
While in New York, Bond and Sherret will also participate in discussions about advocacy for women in areas of conflict. The sessions mark the fifth anniversary of a UN security council resolution to uphold women’s rights to participate in all aspects of the peace and security agenda.

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